044_04 - Dog Days at Disneyland
As I mentioned earlier, we often look for ways that we can spend time with our canine kids. See the archive section for more family references.

Of course, there is the famous story of how Walt Disney came up with the idea of Disneyland as a place adults and their kids could enjoy together. True to the original Walt genius, he even considered canine kids.

Disneyland is one of the only parks I know of that offers kennel services. The Disneyland Kennel is a pet friendly facility that allows your four-legged family members to have fun too.

First, you get to park in a special location - the Simba lot. This lot is the only one still on the original Disneyland property. Then, you and your kids get to ride the tram. Once they are checked into the kennel, you can come visit them when you wish. They even have a special play area for you to share the park experience.

The top image shows our Akita, Nikoma, and "momma" Dane, Star, frolicking in the play area. The second shows Nikoma and Jordi, our first female, sitting in front of the kennel. Final image shows Nikoma at the ticket booth, grinning, glad he got to join us.

When we hit the parks, we usually see our kids around every two hours. One time, Rachel had won a small plush raccoon in one of those hook machines that grab toys. (Rachel has many skills, including the ability to get toys out of these machines. One time, in Las Vegas, she even got two toys at once!) We took it back to the kennel and our kids ran about tossing it around to our laughter and enjoyment. Since then, we always try to make sure we bring a toy.

At the end of each visit, the kennel usually gives us a special certificate of the visit with our kids' names on them. We have also bought them hats, badges and other items as souvenirs of the day.

Over the years, we have seen the park loose some of its charm due to employees with little "disney spirit", lack of physical upkeep, poor character performance, lame parades, and a general cheapening of the atmosphere. However, we still enjoy our recent times thanks to the love from our kids. They can't go into the park, but they are near us and with us in spirit the whole day. That's Walt's magic at work.